My Dad Taught Me This 2-Minute Art Hack (It Transformed My Living Room)

I may be aging myself, but I’ve discovered a lot thanks to my dad over three decades — my favorite band (My Morning Jacket), the perfect margarita recipe, and an appreciation for good art, rugs, and antiques. My dad has a keen eye for design and is perpetually decorating our family house in Kentucky with some newly acquired paintings or vintage chairs (much to my mom’s chagrin). As I’ve furnished my so-called “adult” apartments, he’s essentially doubled as my built-in interior consultant, too.

I hold my dad’s design opinions of my own home in high regard, but he doesn’t visit New York often. Any “Hey, do you like this couch?” conversations are usually over text or FaceTime. Both my parents were in town a few years ago, though, and it was my dad’s first time seeing my apartment. By that point, I desperately needed his expertise on where to style a pile of art prints I’d collected, and he came fully prepared to put on his proverbial decorating hat, with nails and hammer at the ready (which, yes, he packed in his checked bag).  

I did know exactly where I wanted to put a pair of prints we’d picked out together at an antique store in my hometown. My living room has a window cutout above my sofa which opens up into the kitchen — so I’d planned to stack them in a row on the sliver of open wall space to the right of this. I already had a woven side table with a tall CB2 lamp styled on the floor next to my couch, which the matching art would look perfect above.

My dad started to work his art-hanging magic and held up both frames against the wall so I could visualize the right height. But before he began nailing, he asked me to do one step I’d genuinely never thought of for hanging art: turning on my table lamp below.

While still holding the frames against the wall, my father wanted to see how high up the light would project. Then, he hung and leveled the pair accordingly so that the glow from the bulb hit both prints in the perfect sweet spot. 

It’s so simple, but something that wouldn’t have crossed my mind if I’d been hanging the wall art up myself. To be honest, I’m lucky if everything looks aligned, let alone has a spotlight emphasizing the right points. 

This trick works not only for table lamps, but also floor lamps, bedside lamps and sconces, or even pendants and picture lights — flip them on before installing any art in proximity to see how they play up each piece. 

My dad fortunately visited on a gloomy, rainy afternoon when we could easily see the light bulb’s reach during the day, but you may also want to try this out at night to get the full effect (or even just a sneak peek of the ambience). I love turning on just my one table lamp to illuminate two of my favorite decor finds, which also look just as prominent on their own in the daylight.

The next time you’re mapping out a gallery wall or trying to decide where to put a cute Etsy print, don’t forget this simple dad-approved styling trick before nailing any holes in the wall!